Robert Adamson, whose work Coburn discovered as a teenager, was his idol and mentor, and one of his greatest influences.[3]
He became interested in haiku in his youth after reading “In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound, and is a lifelong admirer of the poet and critic’s work.[4]
Coburn is the author of the poetry collections Ghost Poetry (Upswell Publishing, 2024), And I Could Not Have Hurt You (Kiddiepunk, 2023),[5]The Other Flesh (UWA Publishing, 2019), and Rain Season (Picaro Press, 2013).
He has also published a number of chapbooks.
His first published poem appeared in anarchist poet Pi O's literary journal Unusual Work when he was 17 years old.[1] His poems have appeared in Poetry, Meanjin, Island, Westerly, Quadrant, and elsewhere. His poems have also been published in anthologies, including Writing to the Wire (UWA Publishing, 2016) and To End All Wars (Puncher & Wattmann, 2018).
Additionally, Coburn’s haiku has been published widely,[6] including in Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, NOON: Journal of the Short Poem, tinywords, Frogpond (the journal of the Haiku Society of America), and Blithe Spirit (the journal of the British Haiku Society).
His work was selected for inclusion in a hole in the light: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2018, edited by Jim Kacian.[7]
In 2021, Coburn published "Home for the Rodeo", an essay detailing his struggles with alcoholism, depression, and self-harm, and his love of the sport of rodeo.[8]
He released the album Womb, a collaboration with noise artist TVISB, in 2023.[9]
His debut album of spoken word recordings I Dreamed the Night was a Horse with its Eyes Shut was released in 2024. The album title is taken from a poem by Frank Stanford.
Critical response
Robert Adamson noted that Coburn’s poems “come from tough experiences, yet are created with a muscular craft that glows with alert intelligence”.[10] Due to its openness in dealing with personal themes such as mental illness, trauma, addiction, self-harm and suicide, Coburn’s work has often been categorised as confessional poetry. Sarah Holland-Batt wrote that Coburn’s “raw and intimate poems are marked by a strong presence of voice: confessional, consolatory, despairing, and defiant” and that his poems “speak of impulses that are often repressed or left unsaid.”[11]
His work is also known for using imagery related to his upbringing on his family’s farm, horses and rodeo. Les Wicks called Coburn “the best portraitist of Australian rural life since Brendan Ryan.[12]